What a piece of writing you've brought us this time, questioning our very civility!
You know, I think we have a serious problem with perception, even with self-concept. I've often wondered how free I am, and I suspect you have too.
To place the foundation of civilization on slavery is to disregard our own nature. Perhaps it's just a reflection of the well-worn law of the jungle.
My lineage is mixed, meaning that when I look in the mirror, I see evidence of my supposedly African past in my caramel-colored skin. Then I recall the assertion that Homo sapiens left the African continent to conquer the planet, and in that journey, assimilated other humans through mating during encounters. On the other hand, I see my straight, black hair—well, what's left of it—and I compare myself to my maternal grandmother, who passed away so long ago, and who was blonde with green eyes. And my children, white as milk, in the arms of my mother-in-law, whose eyes were as blue as the midday sky.
Forgive the descriptive family reminiscence, but I feel it's fitting in this particular instance.
The barbarians, by the way—a term used to refer to the Germanic peoples during the height of the Roman Empire because their speech seemed like incomprehensible gibberish to the Romans—applied the same ferocity as their conquerors. In both senses, both were uncivilized in practice, and in the end, in the homeostasis of history, they converged into what we know today as Western culture.
A stark reality that defines us today, and which you have so aptly described when speaking of disguised slavery. Moreover, modern work is the new facade of slavery, and what you refer to as the outsourcing of business practices are its extreme forms. It suffices to consider the unequal distribution of wealth—without resorting to Manichean thinking to blame the rich (who are simply following their instincts and exploiting the system's vulnerabilities)—to conclude that we live in a world of slavery that proclaims itself civilized in pursuit of the common good.
Solidarity and competition clash. I trust that we will have the wisdom to overcome our inherent nature so that we can finally end this everyday slavery.
Absolutely! One could say that even our obligations placed on ourselves restrict our freedoms and this extends out to our families, our societies, our jobs and then there is what our leadership imposes.
This is something I've often ruminated on and it came up as a discussion point in a video I saw recently. The video was of a young Chinese girl with her afro hair being styled by her mother who had the straight, black hair we see as more traditionally chinese. Many assumed that there must be some recent African genetics in the family for the girl to have such tight curled afro hair, but there wasn't. A genealogist was explaining that this is merely a genetic trait which can emerge anywhere in the world (is just more common in African populations), including in white populations and makes complete sense if you think that we all descended from the same source which is generally thought to be African anyway. I love the way genetics throws out these different visual traits, sometimes at surprising moments. I don't think many people today could truly say their lineage isn't mixed and that's a good thing. The Habsburgs are probably a good example of why keeping bloodlines pure is not a very good idea. 😅
Another very good point and another topic I've also been thinking about a lot lately. I've been listening to Gary Stevenson, an economist who came from an impoverished background which has given him a perspective that most economists don't have. In this video clip he says the same thing himself that the rich will just do what they can to increase their wealth in whatever way the system allows them to. I don't see that pattern ending any time soon, but we can be hopeful.
I just watched Stevenson's video. Yes, he's absolutely right. The problem we have now is that the world has shrunk, and capital is moving more frequently to places where it can pay less tax. You know, this video is making me question my anarcho-capitalist ideas. I believe even less in socialism, and certainly not in utopian communism. What I am certain of is that states (though I should say: politicians, with a lowercase "p") oppress the poorest people for the benefit of large tech corporations.
Unfortunately, I have no choice but to share your pessimism on this matter.
I'm reaching a conclusion that no system on it's own is the answer to all of our problems. I was wondering recently if the case could be made that we had anarcho-communism when we lived in tribes or in early agricultural times, but even then we tended towards having some form of leadership in the form of chieftans.
It seems to be human nature to always want more than you currently have and those who are the most succesful at achieving this tend to be the ones with more power. They are the ones who will learn how to play any system to gain the most from it at the expense of others.